2009 NASCAR Fantasy Preview: Texas I

This week the series heads to Texas for the first of its 2 races this season. Jimmie Johnson broke through last weekend with his first win of the year at a track he has dominated at the last few years. So, what does it look like this week?

Matt Kenseth is my pick to win this week. Matt started out the season with 2 straight wins before riding the roller coaster to the bottom. Matt has really struggled the last 4 races but, at Texas he returns to his favorite type of track. The one and a half mile track. Look for Matt to qualify towards the middle of the pack and just keep moving up during the race and leading by about the halfway mark.

Carl Edwards only has 2 top 10 finishes so far this year but still sits 8th in the standings. Carl won both races here last year and this could be the place that he breaks into the win column this season. The Roush teams are always good at Texas and if they can stay away from engine problems they should all have good runs.

Jimmie Johnson sits 4th in the standings after his win last week at Martinsville. However, Jimmie hasn’t looked as good at the intermediate tracks yet this season so I am going to stay away from him for now on these tracks. There are plenty of races left to use Jimmie in before the end of the year.

Kyle Busch had a horrible week at Martinsville and will be glad to get back to a larger higher banked track. As I’ve said in the past, Kyle can win anywhere. Kyle seems to be getting the handle on Texas with 4 top 6 finishes in his last 5 starts here.

Jeff Gordon sits on top of the standings with another good finish last weekend. Jeff is still trying to break his winless streak and has been running well at Texas over the last few years. Jeff came away with a 2nd place finish to Carl Edwards here last fall.

Greg Biffle is another Roush driver that will run good this weekend if his engine holds out. Greg started out the year on a high note and has since fallen back a little bit due mostly to mechanical failures. Look for the “Biff” to challenge for the win this weekend.

Jeff Burton has been one of the more consisstent drivers at Texas over the past few seasons. Jeff has 4 top 6 finishes in his last 6 starts here including a win back in the spring of 2007.

Yahoo Picks for Texas

Group A

Matt Kenseth

Carl Edwards

Group B

Martin Truex Jr.

Ryan Newman

Jamie McMurray

David Ragan

Group C

AJ Allmendinger

Marcos Ambrose

Top 5 Overall at Texas

Matt Kenseth

Carl Edwards

Jimmie Johnson

Kyle Busch

Greg Biffle

As always you can Email me with any questions, comments or suggestions at gutsamaniac@hotmail.com You can also leave a post at the end of this article and I will answer it there. Good luck once again this weekend!